Why is it safe to fly a balloon?

Almost all future balloon passengers ask me the same question: “Is it safe? Won’t we fall down? Because we’ve heard it here…” And every possible variation of that question. Yes, a balloon is something unexplored, and therefore scary.

“Is it safe?”
According to aviation accident statistics, the balloon is the safest type of aircraft.

“Won’t it fall?”
A hot air balloon saves better than a parachute. Even if it is not controlled in any way, from a normal tourist flight height of 200 – 300m emergency landing speed will be no more than 5 m/s, for comparison, a parachutist lands at a speed of 5 – 7 m/s. But unlike the parachutist, the passengers of the balloon are inside the basket, which absorbs most of the impact and cushions it due to the springy wicker construction.

The balloon does not develop high speed because the shell is filled with hot air and cools down rather slowly. Shell volumes range from 2,500 cubic meters to 6,000 cubic meters – that amount of air is difficult to cool quickly.

“Won’t it burst?”
There’s nowhere for the air to escape from the shell. Like a rubber balloon, a balloon cannot burst. The shell is made of a large number of fabric squares, reinforced at the seams with power tapes, holding up to 3 tons “at breakage” – you can’t tear it with your hands.

Even if one of the squares breaks, you will safely fly on, without even noticing the changes. And in the lower part of the shell up to 5 such “holes” are allowed without damage to the flight (it happens that on takeoff, a gust of wind blows the burner flame and melts the fabric).

“It’s out of control, aren’t we going anywhere?”
The pilot controls the balloon by changing flight altitude, and as you know, the wind changes its direction and speed almost every 30 to 50 meters. But most importantly, pilots make a flight plan while still on the ground. Knowing very well the flight region and having a map in front of them they line up the flight route following the wind direction which was immediately measured.

They don’t put “unskilled” pilots on passenger flights. No pilot will take passengers “without knowing where”. He is in the same basket, shoulder to shoulder with passengers, and he wants to get home not later than others. Therefore, he will choose a comfortable landing, next to the road. Preferably so that the escort car, going for the balloon, was already standing on this road and waiting for them. And not so that to drag “half a ton” on themselves through the woods a couple of kilometers, after the passengers have gone home.

“But what about the weather, the elements?”
The beauty of passenger hot air balloon flights is the ability to assess the weather and options for weather “trouble” throughout the flight preparation time. That is, the pilot watches, in addition to the forecasts, the actual development of the situation over his head. In contrast to the flights the balloon flies a short distance, and the weather at the start is equal to the weather on landing. No one will ever “drag” you into the sky if they have doubts about the possibility of a soft and safe landing.

“And I’ve been told that the basket hits the ground on landing
and falls on its side.”
Yes, this is true in 10 to 15% of landings. The balloon flies at speeds not exceeding 4 – 5 m/s, in stronger winds the flight is cancelled. At landings up to 3 m/sec, the basket just stands on the ground with the bottom, in extreme cases, “takes a step” and stands up at all. But if the wind speed is 4 to 5 meters per second, the basket touching the ground, cannot hold on to the 3 to 5 tons of air in the shell with its small mass, like an anchor. The shell pulls the basket with it. The basket lies on its side. During such landing, the pilot opens the parachute valve from above (a big hole in the canopy), and the air comes out of the shell quickly. You may be dragged along the ground for a while until the shell becomes a flat rag and rests quietly on the ground.

It’s perfectly safe. As I said before, the basket is woven of vine and absorbs all shocks, cushioning them. You should listen to the pilot and keep your hands, feet and head inside the basket, and hold tight to the hinges inside and not come out without the pilot’s permission. The pilot warns passengers about the possibility of such landing in advance. Children, the elderly and pregnant women are not allowed on such flights. And in general, this is the only extreme in hot air ballooning, many even ask for it and get upset if you land them softly.

“That’s all great, but then why are THEY falling?”
99.9% of aviation accidents are caused by human error, mostly the pilot. Misjudged weather situation, overestimated own strength and experience, “orders” from a superior.